PEBBLE
Practice kindness all day to everybody and you will realize you’re already in heaven now.
-Jack Kerouac, shared by Terri in New Hampshire (although she found the quote in Colorado!)
BOULDER
To help yourself, help others. Whatever good you do travels a circle and returns to you many times over-but remember, life isn’t about what you get, it’s about what you become.
-Dennis Gaskill, shared by Vickie in Richmond, VA
PONDER
Kindness is baked right into our mission of unleashing ripples of compassion and kindness (uRock!). If you peek at our newsletter archives, you’ll see that the topic of kindness is a frequent focus (here’s a nifty list of issues that are tagged with kindness). I think it is safe to say that kindness is top of mind for most of our regular readers, and embedded in our hearts, too.
Still, it is good to have a reminder that kindness lifts up more than just those on the receiving end of a kind act. There is quite a bit of research supporting the idea that kind givers benefits at least as much (and frequently much more than) kind receivers. Our mood instantaneously lifts when we give freely, and we usually feel better about ourselves and the world because it reminds us there is indeed lots of good in the world AND WE ARE PART OF THAT GOODNESS!
Kindness also benefits everyone who learns about a kind act, helping them to see the good that is out there and inspiring them to unleash some kindness themselves. It extends the kindness ever outward…sort of like…wait for it…ripples in a pond!
So go out into the world today and keep your eyes and ears open for opportunities to unleash kindness. It wil make a difference to you, to someone else, and to the world.
Peace,
Paul
